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Whatever the outcome, local scout leader James Happell is greeting the results with a mixed-bag of feelings. Today's vote definitely inches the organization forward - but does it go far enough?

Happell and his wife have been active leaders at Troop 20 in Palmetto Bay since 2001. They watched their two sons climb to rank of Eagle - scouting's top honor. But in his conscious, Happell always disagreed with the organization's policy on gay membership. "I remained being a scout leader working from within to get it changed."

The 52-year-old ditched the quiet approach last summer, when the institution's policy impacted his own troop. An Eagle Scout in the group mentioned to an acquaintance that he was bi-sexual. Later, he received a letter from the regional office revoking his membership.

"We tried to appeal that. He was a real good leader that wanted to stay in Scouts," he says. "That conclusion that many people draw is that if you're gay, you're a pedophile. And that's just not true."

As far as today's vote, Happell has mixed feeling. "I'm cautiously optimistic that it will pass, but it may not," he says. "There are a lot of people in scouts that feel the current policy is justified."

But, as he point out, the current vote would only scrub discrimination from the ranks of actual scouts; gay leaders and parents would still be shown the door. Yes, today's vote would be meaningful, but Happell says he would like to see the organization to all the way. He feels others in the scouting world feel the same.